Thursday, 10 October 2013

Saturday, 21 September 2013

ALRIGHT, LISTEN UP YOU SORRY PACK OF SPONGEHUFFERS. IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN - THE TIME TO STOP FONDLING YOUR FUCKING SHAMEGLOBES AND WHINING ABOUT WHY YOUR TWO FAVORITE WHITE MIDDLE-TO-UPPER CLASS CISGENDERED MALES WON’T KISS - IT’S TIME TO GET FUCKING ANGRY.

SO YOU MAY HAVE SEEN THAT POST GOING AROUND ABOUT HOW MARVEL AND DC ARE BOTH DUDEBROS BUT AT LEAST MARVEL IS TRYING SOMEWHAT TO BE LESS AWFUL, AND DC IS JUST REVELING IN ITS OWN FRATBOY AWFULNESS. YOU MAY HAVE AGREED WITH THAT POST BUT WONDERED WHAT EXACTLY IT WAS ABOUT. AMONG OTHER THINGS, INCLUDINGNOT FUCKING ALLOWING THE BATWOMAN CREATIVE TEAM TO SHOW THEIR CANONICALLY LESBIAN CHARACTER GETTING MARRIED, THE ABOVE IS WHAT ALL THIS ANGER IS ABOUT.

YES, YOU READ THAT HEADLINE CORRECTLY. NO, THOUGH YOU AND I BOTH DESPERATELY WISH WITH THE POWER OF A THOUSAND DESPERATELY FLAGELLATING FAIRY CORPSES FOR IT TO BE SO, THE HEADLINE IS NOT IN ANY WAY AN EXAGGERATION.

THE BRILLIANT SPANGLEDANGLING GENIUSES OVER AT DC DECIDED THAT THEY WANTED SOME MORE PUBLICITY FOR THEIR UPCOMING NEW SERIES, AND DECIDED TO DO THAT BY OPENING UP A SLOT ON THE CREATIVE TEAM TO THAT MOST SELECTIVE OF POOLS - THE INTERNET. AFTER ALL, IT’S ONLY A FEMALE-LED COMIC ANYWAY - GOTTA SAVE THE BIG GUNS LIKE ORSON SCOTT CARD FOR SUPERMAN, AMIRITE?

SO, IT’S PRETTY FUCKING SIMPLE - ALL YOU GOTTA DO IT DRAW HARLEY QUINN ATTEMPTING TO COMMIT SUICIDE 3 AND A HALF TIMES (THE ONE WITH THE WHAL IS SOMEWHAT AMBIGUOUS), THE LAST OF WHICH IS WHILE SHE IS NAKED, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, SEXUALIZING THE DEATH OF A WOMAN IS SOOOOO COOL AND HIP AND TRENDY.

BUT WHAT IF YOU FIND IT MORALLY OBJECTIONABLE TO MAKE A CONTEST OVER WHO CAN DRAW THE BEST WOMAN IN THE REFRIGERATOR MOMENT, AND WOULD RATHER BE KNOWN FOR DRAWING A KOOKY, HAPPY-GO-LUCKY CHARACTER WITH SOME RATHER IMPACTFUL EMOTIONAL DEPTH TO HER AT TIMES ENGAGED IN ACTIVITIES OTHER THAN SEXILY TRYING TO KILL HERSELF, RIGHT DURING NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION WEEK?

WELL THEN WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING TRYING TO GET A JOB AT DC?!

NOT ONLY IS THIS URINE-SOAKED GREASE-ADDLED FUCKWADDLING EXCUSE FOR A CONTEST OFFENSIVELY MISOGYNISTIC AND NOT O0NLY CONTINUES BUT SHINES A FUCKING SPOTLIGHT BRIGHTER THAN THE ORGASM OF TWO HYPERGIANT STARS ENGAGED IN SEXUAL RELATIONS SO KINKY THAT IT MADE 4CHAN SAY “NOW THAT’S A BIT MUCH” ON THE CONTINUED CHILD-LIKE GLEE THE COMICS INDUSTRY HAS IN SHOWCASING THE DEATH, DISMEMBERMENT, AND DEBASEMENT OF FEMALE CHARACTERS, BUT IT0 CONTINUES TO SET THE NORM AT DC THAT IF YOU WANT TO WORK THERE YOU HAVE TO BE DOWN WITH THIS FESTERING MALIGNANCY.

AND THAT’S KIND OF FUCKING TERRIBLE.

FORTUNATELY, AS USUAL, I HAVE SOMETHING YOU CAN FUCKING DO ABOUT IT! REMEMBER HOW I SAID THAT THIS WHOLE FUCKING TRAVESTY WAS A CONTEST? WELL THAT MEANS THAT YOU CAN DIRECTLY SUBMIT AN IMAGE TO DC IN RELATION TO THIS CONTEST.

ANY IMAGE.

IF YOU’VE BEEN ON THE INTERNET AS LONG AS I’VE HAD, THEN YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I’M THINKING. IT’S TIME FOR A GOOD OLD-FASHIONED SPAM WAR.

YOU CAN LITERALLY SUBMIT ANYTHING YOUR HEART DESIRES, FROM A WELL-WORDED TAKE DOWN OF THEIR CURRENT POLICIES (REMEMBER TO PUT IT IN IMAGE FORM THOUGH) TO YOUR FAVORITE NIGHT VALE TENTACLE PORN. I HONESTLY DO NOT CARE, THOUGH THE MORE WE STAY ON MESSAGE THE MORE IT WILL BE CLEAR TO THEM THAT WE ARE ANGRY ABOUT SOMETHING AND NOT JUST SPAMMING THEM BECAUSE, WELL, INTERNET.

SO MAYBE OVERLAY “DC YOU ARE DUMB AND SUICIDE IS NOT SOMETHING TO BE OBJECTIFIED" OVER YOUR CECIL/CARLOS/EREN JAEGER TENTACLE PORN, I DON’T KNOW.

THIS IS A GOOD IMAGE TO GET YOU STARTED:

SO GO, KIDDOS, HAVE FUN, AND SPAM THE FLOPTWIDDLING HORSEMANGLING SPERMWAFFLING JELLOFLOCKING KOALAHUMPING DICKCUNTING HELL OUT OF THESE GUYS.

OH, AND IF YOU MAKE A PARTICULARLY AMUSING IMAGE TO SEND THEM, REBLOG THIS WITH THAT IMAGE, SO WE CAN ALL SHARE IN THE FUN!

LET’S NOT ONLY MAKE SOME FUCKING NOISE, PEOPLE - LET’S SPAM SOME ASSHOLES.

"When you really think about it the whole hetero-normative [1] dialogue around young women’s sexual lives is couched in the language of monetary transactions: you lose your virginity the way you lose money when the market crashes. You save yourself for marriage the way you might hoard pennies and dimes to chip away at your college tuition. Your virginity is a gift for your future husband.

All of this language implies that your worth is between your legs - and it’s worth a lot, it’s worth everything. If you don’t have it then you’re not worth taking home. “The type of girls that would sleep with you in a heartbeat aren't the type of girls i’d want to take home anyway.” (And note that verb - “take.”)

But nowhere in any of this is there talk of this thing between your legs being valuable to you. You can save, and save, and save, and finally spend, and you’ve either given a man a gift or you've lost everything.

When you save up, or when you give something away, don’t you get something in return? Or are you just there to have a gift taken from you?

When you have sex for the first time - consensually, on your own terms - the fact is that you don’t lose anything. You are not less than you were the night before. If anything, you've gained something, a new experience, deeper understanding of yourself and of another person. You are not tarnished and you are not impure. You are the same person you always were."

[Hetero-normativity refers to the body of lifestyle norms that hold that people fall into distinct and complementary genders (man and woman) with natural roles in life. It presumes that heterosexuality is the only sexual orientation or only norm, and states that sexual and marital relations are most (or only) fitting between people of opposite sexes. Consequently, a "heteronormative" view is one that involves alignment of biological sex, sexuality, gender identity, and gender roles (e.g feminine women and masculine men). Heteronormativity is linked to heterosexism and homophobia. Heteronormative views denotes or relates to a world view that promotes heterosexuality as the normal or preferred sexual orientation.]

It's kind of really late (like nearly a month late, sue me, I was having Prelims), but.

Let's talk about this.

Let's talk about what's wrong with this entire mess is the VMAs, what she did wrong, what she didn't do wrong, everything.

Robin Thicke has faced like no f*cking repercussions because of his and Miley’s performance. I spent ages thinking Miley was the only person performing before I’d seen it because everyone was so busy calling her a “slut” and not focusing on the creepy 36-year-old married man with kids pretending to fuck her whilst singing a song that glorifies rape bye

We'll tackle the misogynistic part of this mess first (even though intersectionality is just as important, kids!) because it's easier to understand.

(oh good lord I only just found out about Robin Thicke I've never HEARD of Blurred Lines before Robin Thicke is such a f*cking douchebag wtf is wrong with this world)

DETOUR TO WHY ROBIN THICKE SUCKSWell, that may be a tad too harsh, but-

Luckily enough, my last post was about rape culture. And his song 'Blurred Lines' (BL) actually constitutes part of rape culture. (To be quite honest though, that last post was kind of wrongly named, because I didn't delve into rape culture.) For those who have never heard the song BL before (I'm assuming y'all have, and just didn't tell me that the song was utterly misogynistic and promotes rape), these are part of the lyrics:Just let me liberate you / You don't need no papers / That man is not your maker /And that's why I'm gon' take a

Tried to domesticate ya / but you're an animal

I know you want it / But you're a good girl / The way you grab me / Must wanna get nasty

He don't smack that ass/ And pull your hair like that

I'll give you something big enough to tear your ass in two

UM. WHAT?Let's address the last one first: "I'll give you something big enough to tear your ass in two." I don't know about you, ladies, but I don't want my ass to be torn in two. I know, I know, you men and your stupid ideas of masculinity (which, by the way, if you complain about, remember that your "rules of masculinity" were first put in place to PUT WOMEN IN PLACE

women are literally raised to be subordinate and malnourished and live in fear of murder and rape so no i am not going to feel bad for men having to live up to masculinity which were set in place by men to, again, keep women subordinate

you are literally complaining about having the better end of the stick and it makes me sick to my stomach you can choke on your spoon)

equate big dicks to being masculine, but really??? I don't know about you, but penetrative sex is not supposed to be painful, or harmful.

The rest of the lyrics give an impression of men "owning" women- the damsel in distress trope, where without men, women can't do much; "let me liberate you" implies that she needs a man's help to be "liberated"- a man is capable, etc, etc, the only one who can be responsible for her. An abusive relationship or an unequal (without explicit permission of both parties, in this case, the female's permission) relationship is the only "proper" relationship to have is implied, too "he don't smack that ass/ and pull your hair like that" It's hard to put into words (tbh most of this blog is a mashup of other blogs and posts I'm not actually that eloquent) but read the highlighted lyrics; furthermore, the lyrics imply that what the woman actually opines does not matter (and that's why I'm gonna take ya). (I know you want it) implies that it doesn't matter if the woman says "no" explicitly, because, the guy just knows she wants it. Did guys suddenly become mind-readers or?

Mr. Thicke dismisses this all though, saying that he and T.I and Pharell do not mean any of that. His defense?That he was happily married with children. Somehow, that totally makes the song message of "no doesn't always mean no" and that women are lesser beings, A-Okay.

Because all three of us are happily married with children, we were like, 'We're the perfect guys to make fun of this.' People say, 'Hey, do you think this is degrading to women?' I'm like, 'Of course it is. What a pleasure it is to degrade a woman. I've never gotten to do that before. I've always respected women.' (taken from Wikipedia)Mr Thicke, what do you say then, about the people who don't know any of that? The impressionable teenage boys and men think anything of date-rape, the females who will be led to believe that it's okay if the men continues pursuing her even if she says "no".

This is turning slightly messy, so I'll stop here. If any of you are still confused about why Robin Thicke's hit single is so offensive, feel free to approach me in school (we can have a discussion, yay!) or ask me on Twitter.

(I am already so sick of writing this good god)

MILEY, OH, MILEY
So what did Miley do wrong, exactly?

I think that was really, really disturbing. That young lady, who is 20, is obviously deeply troubled, deeply disturbed, clearly has confidence issues, probably eating disorder and I don’t think anybody should have put her on stage. That was disgusting and embarrassing … That was not attractive. That was not fun. That was not funny. That was really, really bad for anybody who’s younger and impressionable and she’s really messed up … The whole thing was cringe worthy but I feel bad for her. She is a mess. Someone needs to take care of her. Someone needs not to put her on stage and make a complete fool of herself.

Above is a transcript of Morning Joe, one of the many talk shows that would, the day after, have a field day discussing Miley's "racy" performance.

But, see, that's slut-shaming.

What Miley didn't do wrong was being "slutty" aka sexually provocative (first of all, let people do what they want?? And if it's not what you think is "right", well then, go HOME)

here are some valid criticisms of miley:

she uses black women as accessories

she has claimed twerking as her own

she portrays black women as animals

here are some invalid criticisms of miley:

she’s acting like a slut/ho/whore/trash

she’s disappointing her father

her ass is too small

k thx

More links you can go to, should you choose, because I'm sick of covering this issue and I didn't do a good a job as these posts did:

Thursday, 29 August 2013

For those of you who know me, I'm always harping on about something or the other- and this phrase, "rape culture" is something that enters my vocabulary occasionally. What is this "rape culture" you speak of, then?

Well, for starters, it's something that's preeeeeeeeeeetty prevalent in society. It's kind of inescapable, in fact- there's so many things that I can point out that will make you go all Macklemore (wut wut wut wut wut), because really, it's so integrated into our selves that we simply do not realise it anymore. But for a fair definition of what rape culture is, basically:

"[Rape culture] is a culture in which people who have survived a violent crime are asked to laugh about it because other people think it's funny."

However, this definition doesn't even begin to cover all aspects of rape culture, or help define it that much more, really. Because the startling revelation of the day is this: rape isn't about uncontrollable sexual desire. (honestly I don't even know how to highlight that more than what I've already done)

You only have to listen into a Call of Duty game to see that. When the kid crows, "I raped you!", he's not calling the other guy sexy; he's saying he defeated him, dominated him, humiliated him. That's what rape is about, and that should scare you.

Here's a jab at how easy it is for rape not to exist:

Then there are the scum of the earth who think that rape can be blamed on the victim (notice here, how I said victim: it does not necessarily need to be a woman, although in most cases it is). "She was drunk!" they'll say. "We've had sex before!" they'll cry. "She was wearing almost nothing," they'll protest.

If a woman's house house was forcibly entered, let's say, without her consent, no one would go up to her and say "maybe if you house didn't look so expensive this wouldn't have happened, you should have made it looked less wealthy". So why is it when someone forcibly enters a woman without her consent they say “if you didn’t dress like a slut this wouldn’t have happened, you should dress more modestly”?

Let's reinforce this, one last time:

Really, when men are trying to blame the victim here, you should be ashamed. I am shaking my head at you in disgust. All you are saying is that you cannot be controlled, that you are such a pathetic being with no control or willpower whatsoever over your desires that your natural form is a rapist.

If that's the case, then why not blindfold the men? There is actually a study (I can't find the link now, don't look at me like that, the Internet is distracting and research is elusive also I have 23K posts on my blog so, no, I can't f*cking find it ok you little shits) (the stress is getting to me forgive me) of how professors and leaders from various religions (priests, rabbis, etc) are suggesting that men be given curfews during times when females are usually in public, or being made to be accompanied by two female friends or family members at all times, or going to the extent of being blindfolded. Yes, it's extreme, but the important thing is that no one gets raped here. Why pressure females to dress "more conservatively", when it's the men who are at fault here?

This should be really obvious for some of you, but for the rest, it might come as a shock- or some are still questioning the "why"s of not blaming the victim. Alright then, it's time to introduce a thing called:

CONSENT.

Consent is really f*cking important for everything. Consent is an explicit "yes". Consent means that both parties have agreed to sex (although consent can apply to other things as well) (side note:

it’s really irritating when people try to use consent as this blanket excuse for everything they do. You’re unnecessarily confusing people because you want to validate your argument about something sexual but unrelated to consent.

Consent MEANS it’s not coerced sex. It’s not rape. It’s not sexual assault. That’s all consent gets you. Consent is not some miracle concept that makes racist situations not racist, ableist jokes not ableist. Two white people can’t “consent” away a racist kink being racist. Stop using it that way… it’s not your card to get out of I’m-an-asshole-jail free. And half the time all anyone is saying is “use critical thought in this situation like any situation.” And it’s DEFINITELY not your immune-from-critique card.)

It's frightening to hear that some people are of the opinion that you don't need this for sex. Look, folks- there's nothing wrong with sex. You can:

- have sex every day.
- save sex for your wedding night.
- never have sex.
- have sex with different people.
- have sex with one person.
- have sex with a person of your same gender.
- love sex.
- hate sex.
- be loud.
- be quiet.

The only thing wrong with sex?

When it’s not consensual.

Because that’s not sex. that’s rape.

(this should probably be saved for a sex positivity post but ehhhhh)

This should be really f*cking scary to hear then, that there are some people who think rape is okay. RAPE IS NEVER OKAY. (Unless you're into kinky role-playing, or summat.) It's about time that we learn that it's not, because it's easy to forget that most people have opinions on things that stem from perpetuated notions society gives us. For example, a girl who has sex is a slut. Or, if she's your girlfriend/wife, it's not rape. Well, we need to start having proper sexual education systems, because really, teaching this kind of shizz is important, yo. Look, just look:

I-

I don't even know what to say, man.

So, men out there, (and women), please please PLEASE take a few things from this tl;dr post (idk are my posts tl;dr? I try not to make it so):

Friday, 23 August 2013

It's been a while since I posted, and I'm so sorry- honestly, with the O Levels coming up and lots of other stuff going on, I can't guarantee you a regular posting- and even if I could, THERE ARE SO MANY TOPICS TO ADDRESS. I DON'T KNOW WHERE TO START.

So let's jump right in and talk about the hymen. Or, well, Laci Green can do it for you. (I recommend watching her YouTube channel, it's ace)

Saturday, 10 August 2013

FATFOBIA!
no actually no you know what wait no let's redo that that there's terrible wordplay and it makes me /cringe/ so

FATPHOBIA!
And let's talk about it!

But not now, actually, that's a terrible idea to delve into this headfirst. Fatphobia is more generalised and actually a sub-topic under the main topic, which is

APPEARANCES!
Right guys, so let's talk about this. Let's talk about how girls and women are expected, daily, to dress up accordingly (and I'm not talking just about "office attire" or the like), but we have to keep a certain skirt length too, or it'd be too 'slutty' (again, another topic not for today); we have to be demure but sexy and be opinionated but not too assertive in our opinions; this and that and this and that.

Today though, we're gonna focus on the more physical aspect of appearances.

A good way to show this example is this picture I found on Tumblr, which is kind of makes you have that dawning realization that the world at large (even me: I am a very guilty of such) is judgmental, and superficially so.

Here's an idea:

clothes do not make the person.

Your clothes are not who you are. Your clothes do not define you.

Your clothes do not represent your sexuality, or the "activeness" of your sexual activities.

(This is off-tangent already. Lord.)

“

Here’s the thing. Men in our culture have been socialized to believe that their opinions on women’s appearance matter a lot. Not all men buy into this, of course, but many do. Some seem incapable of entertaining the notion that not everything women do with their appearance is for men to look at. This is why men’s response to women discussing stifling beauty norms is so often something like “But I actually like small boobs!” and “But I actually like my women on the heavier side, if you know what I mean!” They don’t realize that their individual opinion on women’s appearance doesn’t matter in this context, and that while it might be reassuring for some women to know that there are indeed men who find them fuckable, that’s not the point of the discussion.

Women, too, have been socialized to believe that the ultimate arbiters of their appearance are men, that anything they do with their appearance is or should be “for men.” That’s why women’s magazines trip over themselves to offer up advice on “what he wants to see you wearing” and “what men think of these current fashion trends” and “wow him with these new hairstyles.” While women can and do judge each other’s appearance harshly, many of us grew up being told by mothers, sisters, and female strangers that we’ll never “get a man” or “keep a man” unless we do X or lose some fat from Y, unless we moisturize/trim/shave/push up/hide/show/”flatter”/paint/dye/exfoliate/pierce/surgically alter this or that.

That’s also why when a woman wears revealing clothes, it’s okay, in our society, to assume that she’s “looking for attention” or that she’s a slut and wants to sleep with a bunch of guys. Because why else would a woman wear revealing clothes if not for the benefit of men and to communicate her sexual availability to them, right? It can’t possibly have anything to do with the fact that it’s hot out or it’s more comfortable or she likes how she looks in it or everything else is in the laundry or she wants to get a tan or maybe she likes women and wants attention from them, not from men?

The result of all this is that many men, even kind and well-meaning men, believe, however subconsciously, that women’s bodies are for them. They are for them to look at, for them to pass judgment on, for them to bless with a compliment if they deign to do so. They are not for women to enjoy, take pride in, love, accept, explore, show off, or hide as they please. They are for men and their pleasure."

I'd like to take a moment to remind everyone that feminism is about gender equality, so, yes men, being body positive goes out to you too.

Then there's all this bullshit about "real" women have curves, which was the argument against "nothing is as good as skinny feels", or some crap like that. Um. What even?

"Curvy women are real women. Skinny women are real women. Women who have had boob jobs or lip enhancements or liposuction are still real women. Size 0 may make no sense mathematically, but a woman who wears that size is as real as the one who wears a size 16. What makes us “real” people is not the shape of our flesh but our basic humanity. And we lose our humanity when we judge – not when we lose weight, gain weight, or make the intensely personal decision to undergo cosmetic surgery."- Hugo Schwyzer

I can't even remember what this topic was supposed to be about anymore, there are so many sub-topics and overlapping topics and I have a headache I am writing this before noon because that's how much I need to [EDUCATE] all of you

Was I supposed to talk about oversexualization of female bodies? I.e the objectification of our bodies by men? That it's okay for us to be whatever it is, and actually, stoP LISTENING TO ADS? How our bodies are OUR BODIES? I am very confused there are so many topics?? Why am I supposed to talk about this anyway, it's not supposed to be even an issue?????

On that note, check out this Breast Cancer ad where men, for once, are overtly sexualized and used to sell stuff, instead of women. Now, men, how do you feel?

i'm sorry this was supposed to be about our physical appearances and then it got into behaviour that society has conditioned us into and then it delved a little into slut-shaming and after that it was how women don't need to be beautiful and it rounded up to over-sexualization (of a sort) and i am so sorry if this has greatly confused you this has greatly confused me too

SEX EDUCATION TIME!
But, also, not really. This is kind of a crash course, I guess? Again, reminder that none of these things that I have been posting are mine, unless stated.
Since nearly every sexual education system EVER refuses to give comprehensive sex ed, it's up to me (or people on other sites, where I can c/p and show it to you guys). Because, obviously, no one is learning anything actually substantial. Well, except for the guys and girls who watch porn, and that's.... that's not a good idea. It's the most wonderful thing ever when sex is represented inaccurately in pornography. *sarcasm sarcasm sarcasm pleasE NOTE THE SARCASM*

Today we're gonna focus on the more... physical, aspects? I mean, there is the entire relationship stuff to wade through, but I'd say Singapore does a fair, if horribly embarassing way of going through that. Of course, it isn't completely sufficient, but I'm saving that for another day.

I feel guilty and just very on the edge because I haven't posted for a while now, because of Hari Raya celebrations (sorry!) - well, nothing substantial, anyway. So here are some statistics for you lot to ponder.

Since we are born, around the world, women face hate and disgust for simply being ourselves. From being killed at birth just for HAVING A VAGINA, to honour crimes, to being blamed for rape (seriously, we are going to have many, many talks on rape).

Note that the "women make only 77.5 cents for every dollar that men earn" statistic applies only to white women. Women of colour make significantly less.

- Black women make about $0.68 to a man's dollar.
- Latina women make about $0.58 to a man's dollar.

Monday, 5 August 2013

Right, so remember how I said women are often erased from history, or like just really hidden?

For those not in the know, night witches were russian lady bombers who bombed the shit out of german lines in ww2. thing is though, they had the oldest, noisiest, crappest planes in the entire world. the engines used to conk out halfway through their missions, so they had to climb out on the wings mid flight to restart the props. the planes were also so noisy that to stop germans from hearing them combing and starting up their anti aircraft guns, they’d climb up to a certain height, coast down to german positions, drop their bombs, restart their engines in midair, and get the fuck out of dodge.

So, today, Edgar (yes I am smearing your name you are lucky I'm not using your full name so future employers still might hire you) commented that males and females are genetically engineered differently, and henceforth should be treated differently.

Um.

I don't really know what to say to his close-mindedness really (not without severely mutilating him in the process)

an actual opinion???? i mean people are allowed to have their own opinions and all but

Sunday, 4 August 2013

Right, so I really hoped you've watched the Video of the Week, which is a thing I'm planning to do, because people usually tend to like watching things than reading about it? Anyway, it was a segment on street harassment, it's funny and informative and it's really an eye-opener. Almost daily women face street harassment, which is misogynistic because basically we, as people, aren't being respected. Street harassment is sexual degradation of women- it's basically hate speech. (Look, okay, I'm not really good at explaining why it's misogynistic, please say that you understand why?) Some of you may think, hey, I'm complimenting girls, what's wrong with that? Well:

See? Street harassment is not a compliment.

Okay, back to topic, folks!

Time to uncover more aspects of misogyny, dun dun dun...

1. UNDER/MIS-REPRESENTATION OF FEMALES IN THE MEDIA

Here, I revert back to yesterday's post detailing the ratio of males to females in the world. The fact is, despite that there are almost as many or even more women in the world, women are simply written out of... everything! (We'll go to this later, but even in history women are simply written out of.) One simple way you can test this is the Bechdel test- take a look.

It's sad, isn't it?2. SLUT-SHAMING/EXCUSING RAPE
Basically, making a female, who, you know, has sexual needs, same as men, is made to feel bad about herself.

Yeah, in Singapore, or Asia, this isn't a regular occurrence. Here we're all pretty conservative, and tend to stick to sex after marriage. But it doesn't take a genius to figure out (even through media portrayal, e.g Glee) that when a guy sleeps around, it's like, woah, congrats, dude! But when a female sleeps around, it's like

OH NOES GUISE SLUT SLUT SLUT SHE'S A SLUT OH MY GOD SOMEONE TELL EVERYONE SO WE CAN MAKE FUN OF HER FOR WANTING THE SAME THINGS THAT EVERY SINGLE PERSON ON THIS PLANET WANTS TO DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111
There are seriously so many things wrong with the world.

Considering we accept the general hypothesis that girls physically mature faster than boys, it seems curious that we deny them the same agency when it comes to their sexual maturity. The nascent sexual desires of boys are so readily accepted as part of life that we barely blink at the mention of them. We know they’re fascinated by it, turned on by it and would in fact do anything to GET it – so accepting are we that we consider it a scientific fact of life: it is normal and healthy for teenage boys to be driven by their hormones, and any worries about them being indiscriminately promiscuous should be eased by the reminder that it’s just boys being boys and no harm can come of it particularly as they can’t get pregnant.

But instead of encouraging a similar sexual expression in girls (who experience the exact same explosion of hormones during their teen years), we demonise it. We watch with eagle eyes for the first hint of their sexual curiosity; wearing revealing clothing, flirting with strangers, touching themselves, admitting on a handmade sign that they know what an erection is, and would like to see one please. Then, through a sustained process of fear mongering, shame and good, old fashioned folklore, we wrest it from their control and tell them they can have it back when they’ve proved they know how to behave. The irony of course is that we deny sexual autonomy to girls for their own protection, and then expect them to turn around and be the sexual gatekeepers for everyone else’s.” —Clementine Ford

Seriously, this world.

3. "BOYS WILL BE BOYS" HAHAHA FU*KING HAHAHAHA HA NO. "

When we were young, I am so sure, that for every, and I do mean every instance a boy hit/teased/pushed you, or comitted some other playground crime, adults would say, "Boys will be boys." They'd say, "Oh, that means he likes you!"

Bullshit.

Boys will be held accountable for their own actions just as much as girls, ok?!!???!!

Since when are we telling little girls that physical/verbal abuse is a sign of affection? Why are we teaching them that being belittled, abused, and disrespected is a sign of endearing treatment, and if not, should be accepted anyway? Why?

Society is conditioning our daughters to endure abusive treatment, and perhaps go as far as to view it as a romantic gesture. Romantic, my foot.

You want case studies? I'll give you fuc*ing case studies.

#1 RIHANNA/CHRIS BROWN

Three sentences, I promise you. This entire case in three sentences.

He hit her. He got some community service done. He's still selling albums.

THE FLYING FU*K?

#2 KRISTEN STEWART

"omg did u hear about kristen stewart she is such a slut and a whorebag for sleeping around and cheating on her boyfriend! doesn't she know she's famous and can impact young people??? wow what a slut she shouldn't be able to act anymore!!!"

Funny, because if I recall correctly, so did Mel Gibson, and again with the Chris Brown.

Really, Hollywood. Try not to be such a trainwreck. Mel Gibson cheats on wife, his career continues. Chris Brown hits his girlfriend black-and-blue, his career continues. Kristen Stewart cheats on boyfriend, GUYS OH NOES WHAT DO WE DO NOW OH MY GOD LET'S NOT HIRE HER ANYMOERRRR

I'm not saying that she's completely absolved from blame; she cheated on her partner, and that is wrong. I'm just saying that how she's been treated after her scandal is highly unfair, and guess what? The only difference between her and Chris and Mel is that she has a Vagina.

#welcometothevaginalife

4. GIRLS SHOULD BE SEEN AND NOT HEARD

(This is from Tumblr, I'm gonna c/p and show you the thread of comments, ok?)

do you guys remember that one post about how men feel entitled to take up so much space and women have to deal with a lot less?

This is actually a documented thing. You always see men on the subway or tube or whatever using both armrests while women sit with their arms hunched together into their laps. That’s why I always make a point to take up at least one if not both armrests of the tube so men can be uncomfortable for once.

^ again, for all the people telling me posting this picture is complaining too much.

In my college classes (and high school too) guys were always stretching, sticking fists and elbows in my face, leaning their heads back over my desk,over my work, spreading their legs out, kicking my bag with their dirty shoes.

And let’s not pretend they were in other guys’ space as much as they were in women’s.

It’s so true, this happens to me every day on the train. Same with the walking thing, women will weave out of the way whereas men just walk straight and plow down anything in their path. I always end up playing chicken with men on the sidewalk now, because I refuse to move out of their way.

I love playing chicken with dudes who hog the sidewalk. BODY CHECK! Fucking assholes.

“NOT ALL MEN ARE LIKE THIS!” FUCK OFF.“AS A MAN, I THINK THAT…” FUCK OFF.

Men always have the same defensive bullshit to spout every time they get called out on their shit. AND IT IS BORING. They remind me of those toys where you pull a string an they have like 5 phrases they can say. Over and over and over.

same here with playing chicken, its hilarious sometimes because they get this flash of realization in their eyes that says ‘holy shit, she’s NOT going to move/??? what to do????’ because THEY ARE SO USED TO EVERYONE MOVING FOR THEM

when i was younger my grandpa drew this on a piece of paper,

and he asked me how i, as the red circle, would get around the two people (black

circles) if i was walking down the street.

so of course i came back with

moving out of the way for them as i walked.

he asked me if i thought men would do the same and, at the time, i did because ithought it was just common courtesy. but he told me that men would barrel straight through without giving a shit and that i should do the exact same.because i was the one walking and they were the ones in the way. so that’s exactly what i do.

i find this really fascinating because this actually what defines so-called masculine and feminine traits and gestures. the whole limp-wrist thing? that’s someone decreasing the amount of space they take up by not extending their arm fully. samewith crossing one’s legs, how it’s considered more masculine to swing your shoulders when you walk creating a wider gait instead of your hips, how someone who holds their elbows tightly into their torso instead of letting them fall more loosely at their sides is considered feminine.taking up space is not just a frequent habit of males in our culture, its actually how society thinks masculinity is supposed to be expressed.

This is my answer when people say eating disorders are personal problems and have nothing to do with sexism. Women literally socialized to take up as little space as possible all day every day.

I could give you case studies, all day, every day, but I'd be really, really exhausted,

like I am now. (Seriously, like 4 examples, it took me roughly two hours and I'm not

even done????)

Right, so I think that's enough for today! I'm really glad if any of you even reach the bottom

of this post, because you are amazing and no but really i am so exhausted from researching

and typing and copy/pasting and editing html and being angry at the world like whoa

Did you even know that women don't get paid the same as men, even though it is THE

EXACT SAME JOB??

(*On that note, one of my lovely readers Chris pointed out to me that misogyny is actually

really prevalent in Asia too, just not as /out/ there, which is true, especially because of the

Asian mindsets that boys are prosperous and sh*t. Um, hello, I can use my own bone

I would really like to use the word 'whaddup', but unless in context of close friends I feel like I would be seriously judged for this. (I am judging myself for this.)

Anyway, today I've decided to tackle the topic of: MISOGYNY!!

Lots of you whom I know in real life have probably heard me say this word at least ten times a week. The same group of you probably are wondering what on earth I am talking about too, and why I haven't been committed to an asylum. But we are all equal, you say. Women have jobs and can vote and stuff, you say.

I say, that, yeah, that's right, but that's also completely wrong.

I'll be using AMERICA ("land of the free, home of the dumbasses"- Laci Green) as an example, because what Edgar, the person who really seems intent on me not "wasting" my energy on feminism, thinks is that Singapore is pretty gender equal. And it is! Sort of! Misogyny is quite eradicated here, in terms of "big issues", but it still is here. And while that is great, I don't know sh*t about Singapore's misogynistic issues because to be honest I don't give a damn. (I would, but Singapore bores me to tears and there isn't really a feminist community here that I can discuss issues with.) So this means I can't present to you examples of misogyny in our homeland, so what I can do is give you what is the deal in America and the rest of the world, which probably will strike within your hearts a bigger sense of self-righteousness to solve the problem.

(On that note, you should probably know that misogyny/feminism deals with a broad range of topics, because seriously, the world has issues with us beings with vaginas. These topics include anything from sexpositivism to rape culture to an under-representation of female characters in the media, despite the fact that there are nearly as many women as men.

Dis be from Wikipedia:

pinkis the colour representing countries with MORE FEMALES THAN MALES. TAKE THAT, EDGAR Y OU SUCKISH BALL OF SUCK.

green represents the countries with the same ratio of male to female.

blue represents the countries with more males than females.)

Moving on.

Here is an example of female artistes facing severe discrimination- Grimes (you may or may not know her) and Ke$ha (you probably do know her).

EXTRA TIDBIT: Lewis' Law is an observation made in 2012 that states "the comments on any article about feminism justify feminism." (Lewis is this British journalist that writes frequently about misogynist hate directed at women online.)

U C???????

Now on to Ke$ha. Who doesn't love Ke$ha? (Even I love Ke$ha, regardless of her transphobia [yeah okay this is another topic you don't need to worry about for now], because, um, excuse you, she's a qualified genius with an IQ level of over 140 and a SAT score of 1500, and she's rich, and a feminist, and.. yeah there are tons of reasons to love her.)

(gifset taken from Tumblr)

LMFAO makes fun music about partying and everyone is like “haha it’s so fun. those dudes have awacky cool time and it’s harmless pop anyone can love!”

Ke$ha makes fun music about partying and everyone is like “wow clearly she is vapidandunintelligentand her music is awful and she is also awful”

I wonder why that is???

(I know why that is)

(it’s misogyny)

(that’s why)

HAHAHAH TAHNKS MEDIA THANKS MEN THANKS, MAN.

On that note, I'll give you (in point form!) what other things that are misogynistic, and will make more in-depth posts later.

Things girls are made to feel ashamed of include:

wanting/not wanting to have sex

abortion

wearing what they want

putting boys in the 'friendzone'

standing up against misogyny

ruining a boy's life by telling the police he raped her

having periods

abortion

not appreciating catcalls

not appreciating chivalry

having control over their own f*cking body

basically, living.

Misogyny can also be easily described as men (trying to) put women in their "place". Because, apparently, us ladies have a "rightful place."

Yeah, well, dickfaces:

(Another reason why Adventure Time is a brilliant show, but let's not get into that.)

It's a bit hard, actually, to write about this topic and remember that sometimes I just can't leave you guys hanging like that, because I keep forgetting that you lot have not read the articles I've read on this topic, and might not understand fully.

Basically, most men feel as if us women do not have and should not have certain rights. Be it being allowed to drive (I'm looking at you, sexist drivers!), have opinions, and such. Being a feminist is simply sticking up for yourself, for your rights, and (if you're male) for other women's rights. Because, without us, let's face it- the human race will one day die off. One day they're gonna find a way for women to reproduce without men (actually, there is, but it ain't easy) and we all are gonna reproduce asexually and birth wave after wave of strong, feminist women who will smash the patriarchy and then you all are gonna be in trouble.

If you have any questions and/or confused about feminism, feel free to ask me! Be it in school, on Twitter (@shoulderster) or ask.fm (@aimaryter), anything's fine. I'm here to help you on your way to becoming more feminist, right?

HEADS UP: THIS IS NOT A COMPLETE POST ON MISOGYNY. I think I could go crazy, actually, should I choose to explain and justify and go in-depth about misogyny and feminism and everything, BECAUSE THERE IS NO END TO THIS RIDICULOUSNESS. It's 2013, and no one is equal. People of colour, transgenders, non-homosexuals, women... One reason I'm such a huge feminist is because I just really do not understand and hate discrimination. I hate it, really. (That being said, I'm not just a feminist but activist to champion the rights for these "minorities" as well. Social justice for everyone!)